Then later in Picard, they wipe out the entire planet’s population with a biovirus…

I don't remember this at all. Did I miss some throw away line of dialogue?

Your comment makes it seem you’re taking this very personally. It’s okay to hate a creative decision; there are decisions I could name from every Trek series that I hate, some for very subjective reasons. But to attribute that decision to malice, disrespect, or some kind of secret hatred for some part of the franchise is weird. Attributing it to hatred for the fans themselves sounds kind of petulant, frankly.

Generally, if a writer hates some part of a franchise, they wouldn't repeatedly make it a major part of their shows. They'd ignore it and build up the parts of the franchise they do like. Look at how the people running things back in the '90s handled the animated series. They didn't write a big Edosian War storyline or make a Caitian with a tragic backstory one of their core characters. They simply pretended all those elements didn't exist.

That's what it looks like when someone doesn't care for part of a franchise. Like it or not, a cosmetic redesign like we're talking about just looks like an attempt to freshen things up, and maybe appear more cinematic to grab the attention of a wider audience.